RBIS January 7, 2000: Israel As I See It: Uzbekistan -- A Jewish Haven

Board Chairman, Encyclopedia Talmudica; former Board Chairman, Shaare Zedek Hospital; Columnist, National Jewish Post and Opinion; Board Member and Treasurer, Root & Branch Association; Israel Chairman, R&B Jerusalem Embassy Initiative; Co-Chair, R&B Business Fellowship

JERUSALEM, Yom Shishi (Sixth Day -- "Friday"), 29 Tevet, 5760, (January 7, 2000), Root & Branch:

We hosted a meeting at our home of several Root & Branch Association officers with Mr. Rustam Issaev, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Israel.

Ambassador Issaev, R&B Board Co-Chairwoman Rabbanit Pnina Peli, R&B Jerusalem Embassy Initiative International Director Rebecca Weinberger, and R&B President Aryeh Gallin, had arrived earlier than us. We had been somewhat delayed and as we reached the door we heard Hebrew spoken in a resounding tone.

We entered and lo and behold Ambassador Issaev was speaking informally like a veteran Hebraist and exchanging thoughts in perfect conversational Hebrew. After proper introductions, we ventured to ask, " Mr. Ambassador, would you mind telling us where you learned your Hebrew?"

"Not at all", he replied.

"I learned it at the Embassy. All our ambassadors must learn the language of the country to which they are assigned".

We were quite impressed by this reply as a fair indication of a progressive country.

We recalled that earlier in the year as we were about to enter the King David Hotel, a large black limousine with an unfamiliar flag pulled up and out stepped a handsome impressive gentleman, all smiles. We welcomed him and inquired of his identity. He replied casually, "I am Islam Karimov, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan".

As a seasoned reporter, we used the opportunity to probe further. "We assume that you are here possibly to arrange loans for projects in your country?"

He laughed and answered with pride, "No, no, we don't need loans. We are a rich country with gold, oil and natural resources. What we need sorely is your know how!"

We parted, offering, "You came to the right place. Good luck".

Ambassador Issaev enlarged upon the statements of President Karimov, praising highly the first President of the new Republic of Uzbekistan which arose from the welcome demise of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1991. Uzbekistan, with a population of 24 million,is the largest of the five new Central Asian Muslim Republics, all of which have rushed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. These nations are Muslim but not Arab. They have numerous religious communities which live peacefully side by side as they have done for centuries.

Ambassador Issaev gave a brief background of the area dating back to the 6th century C.E. and famous for the Great Silk Road from Byzantium to China and India. Hence, industry and commerce were well developed. The Jewish community of Buchara in Uzbekistan dates back 2,000 years and the Jews there have lived in peace and tranquility with the Uzbeks and other nations in central Asia.

In the Middle Ages, according to their tradition, the Uzbek King Amir Timor brought the grave and gravestone of the prophet Daniel from Iran to Samarkand, "the pearl city" of Uzbekistan, as a gesture of honor to the Jews.

During World War 2, the Soviets gave over 200,000 Jews refugees fleeing the Nazi Germans a haven in the Uzbeck homeland. Many Jews joined the Soviet forces fighting the Nazis. We read the highly emotional poem by the well known Uzbek poet Gafur Gulam entitled, "I am a Jew", which Gulam wrote in 1941 to protest Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda.

Ambassador Issaev spoke highly of the Jewish communities in Uzbekistan, numbering 40,000 people, who are businessmen and professionals. Some Jews serve in the government as well. The oldest communities are Sefardim.

In recent years many Ashkenazim in Uzbekistan established their own synagogues and schools. The oldest Uzbek Jewish community is in Buchara. Samarkand and the capital city of Tashkent have larger and more organized communities with day schools and some community centers.

The Chabad Or Avner Foundation, whose Director we recently met in Moscow, assists with books and other religious material as well as with teachers.

We received a personal account five years ago when our grandson, Arie Lieberman, upon completion of his Israeli army service, was sent by the Bnei Akiva Youth Organization and by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to Uzbekistan for three months to bring some Israeli spirit to Jewish communities in the hinterland. Arie and his co-workers enjoyed helping Jews in three isolated areas, Andishan, Margelan and Kokand, to celebrate Passover, Lag Baomer, Shavuot (Pentecost), Yom Atzmaut (Independence Day) and Yom Yerushalaim (Jerusalem Day). They were much impressed by the youth in these areas.

Ambassador Issaev quoted President Islam Karimov on a very vital policy question, emphasizing, "Our Muslim religion has no part in political matters nor in society generally". It is President Karimov's aim to avoid extremists on the right and on the left.

We read portions of President Karinov's book and found some material pertinent to Israel's current "peace negotiations". President Karimov stressed his goals of establishing close ties with the western world and of modernizing Uzbekistan wherever practical.

However, President Karimov noted, western leaders must learn how to deal with Muslim countries.

"The western model of democracy if applied to Central Asia [or the Middle East] as the standard assessments say it must be, could be dangerous if not catastrophic, leading neither to democracy nor to progress", he warned.

These are "words to the wise" who are currently dealing with dictator terrorists Assad of Syria and Abdul Rauf el-Codbi el-Husseini ("Yasser Arafat") of the Palestine Authority (the PLO). Neither is responsible nor reliable as a "peace partner".

Chodesh Tov and Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem,

Samson Krupnick